Old Testament · Prophets

Daniel chapter 8

In the third year of King ’s reign, I, Daniel, had a — a second one, after the first that had already come to me.I saw myself in the vision at the fortress of , in the province of Elam. And there in the vision, I was standing beside the .I looked up and saw a standing beside the canal. It had two horns, both tall — but one grew up later than the other, and the later one rose higher.I watched the ram — west, north, and south. No other animal could stand against it, and nothing could rescue anyone from its power. It did whatever it wanted and made itself great.As I was trying to make sense of this, suddenly a came from the west, crossing the entire earth . This goat had a single, striking horn between its eyes.It came toward the two-horned ram I had seen standing beside the canal and rushed at it with furious power.I watched it close in on the ram, , striking the ram and shattering both its horns. The ram had no strength to stand against it. The goat threw it to the ground and trampled it, and there was no one to rescue the ram from its power.The male goat made itself enormously great. But at the height of its power, . In its place, four striking horns grew up, pointing toward the .Out of one of them grew a single that became enormously powerful — reaching toward the south, toward the east, and toward the .It grew so powerful that it reached up to the . It threw some of the down to the earth and trampled them.It even elevated itself to rival the . It stripped away the from him and threw down the site of .Because of , an army was handed over to it along with the daily offering. It threw to the ground, and everything it did succeeded.Then I heard speaking, and another of God’s own asked the one who was speaking, “How long will this vision last, with the daily offering taken away, the , and the temple and the army handed over to be trampled?”He said to me, “For . Then the temple will be .”While I, Daniel, was watching this vision and trying to understand it, suddenly someone who looked like a man stood before me.And I heard a human voice calling out from between the banks of the Ulai: “ — help this man understand the vision.”He came close to where I was standing. When he arrived, I was terrified and fell facedown. He said to me, “Understand this, — this vision is about the .”While he was speaking to me, I fell into a with my face on the ground. But he touched me and lifted me back to my feet.He said, “Listen carefully — I am going to tell you what will happen in the final period of the , because this vision is set for the of the end.”The two-horned ram you saw represents the kings of .The shaggy goat is the , and the great horn between its eyes is the first king.The horn that snapped off and the four that grew in its place — those are that will rise from that nation, but without its original power.In the last days of their reign, when the rebels have reached the full measure of their rebellion, a king will arise — and .His power will become great, though . He will cause devastating destruction and will succeed in everything he does. He will destroy the mighty and .Through his cunning, he will make thrive under his rule. He will become arrogant in his own mind, and in a time of ease he will destroy many. He will even take a stand against the — but he will be broken, and .The vision of the evenings and mornings that was described to you is true. But the vision, because it concerns the .I, Daniel, was for days. Then I got up and went back to . But I was by the vision, and no one could make sense of it.